Combined effect of sarcopenia and osteoporosis on the prevalence of mild cognitive impairment in Chinese community-dwelling old adults

Abstract Purpose: The study aimed to explore the single and combined effects of sarcopenia and osteoporosis on the prevalence of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in a Chinese community-dwelling elderly population. Patients and methods: A total of 1268 community-dwelling participants aged ≥ 60 in Shanghai of China from 2019 to 2020. The dual-energy X-ray image of forearm bone of each participant whose T score is less than -2.5 is defined as osteoporosis. Sarcopenia was diagnosed according to the 2019 Asian sarcopenia working group (AWGS) standard. The Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) scales were used to diagnose MCI patients. Results: This study was conducted on 1,268 (30.4% male) Chinese community-dwelling participants with a mean age of 71.8±5.8 years. The prevalence of MCI was significantly greater in the cooccurring group (OR=3.11, 95% CI=1.88-5.17) than in the sarcopenia alone group (OR=1.80, 95% CI=1.04-3.10) or osteoporosis alone group (OR=1.67, 95% CI=1.16-2.41) in unadjusted model. After adjusting for potential confounding factors, the results remained the same (OR=2.51, 95% CI=1.36-4.64). Conclusion: In our study, although sarcopenia and osteoporosis did not independently affect the prevalence of MCI, the joint of the osteoporosis and sarcopenia can synergistically increase the prevalence of MCI in Chinese community-dwelling older adults.